Air-ship



, 3-Shets-Sheet 1. D. vREED.

AIR SHIP (No Model.)

No. 591,692. Patented Oct. 12,1897.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2'.

D. REED.

AIR SHIP.

No. 591,692. Patented Oct; 12,1897.

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3 SheetsSheet 3. D. REED.

AIR SHIP.

(No Model.)

No. 591,692. Patented 0G1]. 12,1897.

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UNITED ESTATES- [PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL REED, OF EAGLE LAKE, MINNESOTA.

AIR-SHIP.

SPECIFICATIGN formingpart of Letters Patent No. 591,692, dated October12, 1897. Application filed June 10,1896. Serial No. 595,025. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL REED, a citizen of the United States,residing at Eagle Lake, in the countyof Blue Earth and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAir-Ships; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Myinvention has relation to air-ships, and more particularly to thatclass in which the ship is rendered buoyant by a gas-inflatedcigar-shaped bottom, from which is suspended a similarly-shaped carprovided with mechanical means operated by hand or foot power forpropelling and steering the same; and the object is to produce a simple,reliable, and safe aerial ship of this kind; and to these ends thenovelty consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement ofthe same, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularlypointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings the same letters and figures of referenceindicate the same parts of the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved air-ship as it appears inoperation. Fig. 2 is a top plan view; Fig. 3, a front end view; Fig. 4,a rear end view Fig. 5, alongitudinal vertical section of the same; Fig.6, a longitudinal transverse section of the same.

The numeral 2 represents the cigar-shaped bottom, pointed at its frontend 3 and square at its stem 4. This bottom consists of a lightaluminium frame 5, over which is secured the covering 6, and from thisframe are two pivoted arms 7 7, to the lower ends of which are journaledthe main shaft 8 of the car 9 and from which the car is suspended. Thisshaft 8 is provided with two main paddlewheels A and B and twogear-wheels 10 10, which mesh with two similar gear-wheels 12 12 on thecrank-shaft 13, the outer ends and central portion of which form itsjournal and which rotate in boxes 14, secured to the inside of the car,and it is operated by footpower applied to the pedals 15.

16 16 are integral double cranks provided with pitmen 17 ,whichreciprocate and feather a paddle 18, pivoted in the side of the carbody.

inner end of a longitudinal propeller-shaft 23, the forward end of whichis connected to a shaft24 by a universal joint or coupling 25. Thisshaft 24 is journaled in a bearingsleeve 26, pivotally mounted in theforward end of the car, and its extreme end carries a propeller 27 ,thearms 28 of which pass through slots 29 in a sleeve 30, which slidesfreely on said shaft and by means of which the blades of the propellercan be radially inclined with reference to the shaft 24, and the shaftitself carrying the propeller can be inclined up or down to assist therudders in changing the course of the ship in any direction.

31 is a vertical rudder and is employed to change the course of the shipto the right or left in the usual manner. It is secured to a rudder-arm32, mounted on a universal joint in the rear end of the car, and itsforward end is connected to a tiller 33, pivoted in a universal joint34, so that said rudder-arm can be depressed or' raised aswell as turnedto the right or left by said tiller.

35 is the horizontal rudder-blade, and its arms 36 are journaled in ahorizontal shaft 37 and then extend forwardly and downwardly and crossunder the rudder-arm 32, so that if the handle be depressed it willelevate the forward end ,of the horizontal rudder and cause the car toascend, and vice versa.

The body of the car may be covered or sheathed in any suitable manner,like a boat, so that the car will float on the surface of the water.

I attach particular importance to the main paddle-Wheels A and B, theblades 39 of which are mounted on shafts 37 ,journaled in the hub 38,and the said blades 39 are provided with radial arms 40, arranged at aright angle to the face of the blade. These arms strike against theinclined surface of a bracket 41 in the upper portion of theirrevolution,which turns the edge of the blade to and offering noresistance to the air, and as they continue around in their revolutionthey strike against a semicircular rail 42, which turns the face of theblade to the air and propels the machine forward, and they continue inthis position during the lower half of their revolution and until theyagain strike the bracket 11, which again turns the blades edgewise tothe air.

Although I have specifically described the construction and relativearrangement of the several elements of my invention, I do not desire tobe confined to the same, as such changes or modifications may be made asclearly fall within the scope of my invention without departing from thespirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

An aerial ship, comprising a cigar-shaped inflatable vessel, a fioatablecar suspended therefrom by the pivoted arms 7 7, in combination with thehorizontal transverse shaft 8, the feathering-paddles A, B, mounted onthe outer ends thereof, said shaft being also provided with the spurgear-wheels 10 10 and l 9,the counter-shaft 2l,the pinion 20 mountedthereon and in mesh with the gear-wheel 19,

the bevel-gear 22, fixed on said counter-shaft, a longitudinal shaft 23mounted in the same plane at a right angle to said counter-shaft andprovided on its inner end with a bevelgear meshing with the bevel-gear22, the propeller 27 mounted on the outer end of said longitudinalshaft, the crank-shaft 13 formed with the integral motor-cranks 15 15,and the driving-cranks 16 16, gear-Wheels 12 12 fixed on saidcrank-shaft and meshing with the,

gear-wheels 10 10 on the shaft 8, the lateral paddles 18, the inner endsof which are connected by pitmen 17 to the cranks 16 on the shaft 13,and the rudders 31 and 35 and means as described for simultaneouslyoperating said rudders, substantially as shown and de-. scribed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

DANIEL REED. Witnesses:

CARL CARPENTER, MILLIE CARPENTER.

